The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) said it remains optimistic in achieving its P200-billion investment target for 2024, despite a global slowdown in foreign commitments.
PEZA director-general Tereso Panga said the anticipated passage of the CREATE More bill would incentivize more investors to register projects with PEZA and other investment promotion agencies (IPAs).
The bicameral conference committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives earlier approved the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE) bill.
“There has been a global slowdown of foreign investments due to geopolitical events during the past months. We are optimistic that we will still meet the target given the recent pledges from China as well as projects already in the pipeline,” Panga said.
Panga cited several factors that support PEZA’s positive outlook including the upcoming outbound investment missions planned for Taiwan, Japan and Singapore that are expected to generate more foreign direct investments.
The recovery of the electronics, semiconductor and electric vehicle (EV) sectors also signals resilience and potential for further investment expansion, he said.
Adding to these are the new ecozone developments such as pharma ecozones, aqua-marine Parks, KIST industry excellence centers and integrated steel mills which would diversify investment sources and industries.
“The strong IT-BPM and tourism sectors, with their consistent growth, will continue to attract investments,” Panga said.
PEZA also highlighted positive economic forecasts, including AMRO’s projection of 6.1 percent growth for the Philippine economy in 2024 and 6.3 percent in 2025.
The UNCTAD World Investment Report, suggesting a modest growth in global FDI is possible for the full year, is another reason for PEZA’s strong optimism for the year.
